Thought of the week: Why Does the Unborn Take Birth?

August 13, 2001

By His Holiness Romapada Swami

Janmastami is an exceptionally glorious event because Krishna is making His

appearance. The Vedic scriptures, great saintly authorities, and even Krishna

Himself establish that He, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is unborn. In

the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, "Although I am

unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the

Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original

transcendental form." (Bg. 4.6) Krishna's appearance is not an ordinary birth.

He appears first in the mind of Vasudeva and is then transferred to the mind of

Devaki. From the mind of Devaki, He then enters her womb as if growing there,

and at last appears before her in full splendor as the four-armed Narayana. In

this way, the Supreme Unborn appears to take birth. Why He does so has been a

subject matter of consideration for exalted personalities since the time of His

advent.

Queen Kunti tells of this in her prayers to Lord Sri Krishna, found in

Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 8:

kecid ahur ajam jatam

punya-slokasya kirtaye

yadoh priyasyanvavaye

malayasyeva candanam

"Some say that the Unborn is born for the glorification of pious kings, and

others say that He is born to please King Yadu, one of Your dearest servants.

You appear in his family as sandalwood appears in the Malaya hills." (Bhag.

1.8.32)

Krishna accomplishes so many things by His every one act, beginning with His

divine appearance. Krishna Himself explains to Arjuna that He appears to

reestablish the principles of religion, to protect the pious, and to annihilate

the miscreants. However, the Vaisnava acaryas have illuminated the fact that

Krishna doesn't need to appear personally to accomplish these objectives. He

can depute His energies or His representatives to fulfill these purposes,

simply by His will. Yet He comes for other significant personal reasons,

accomplishing many transcendental objectives simultaneously.

Queen Kunti, who perfectly understands Krishna's position as the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, reveals that Krishna appears to glorify His devotees.

As the beauty of Krishna is so great that the ornaments adorning His body

become beautified, His appearance in the Yadu dynasty similarly glorifies

Maharaja Yadu. Krishna has many names indicating His relationship with King

Yadu, such as Yadava, Yadunandana, Yaduvira, and so on. By such names, both

Krishna and His devotee, Maharaja Yadu, are glorified.

Krishna similarly has innumerable names indicating His relationships with other

devotees. He is known as Devaki-nandana because He appeared as the son of

Devaki in the prison house of Kamsa. He is glorified as Sundara Nanda-gopala,

the beautiful cowherd boy of Nanda Maharaja, and as Yasoda-dulala, the darling

of mother Yasoda. Krishna is Gopa-vrnda-pala, the protector of the cowherd boys

of Vraja, Gopinatha, the Lord and master of the gopis, and Radha-vallabha, the

lover and beloved of Srimati Radharani. By His appearance and transcendental

loving dealings, Krishna draws attention to those who are very dear and

affectionate to Him. Some repose their affection upon Him as the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, whereas others, like Nanda and Yasoda, simply love Him

as their darling son, who they must nurture and train very carefully.

Still others, like Subala, Sudama, and Sridama, cherish Krishna as their most

intimate friend, and while praising His extraordinary feats of killing powerful

demons and protecting them from many insurmountable dangers, they nonetheless

sport playfully with Him, considering Him to be their equal. The young cowherd

maidens of Vrndavana live simply for the pleasure of Krishna, with their minds

fixed upon Him as the most beautiful and charming prince of Vraja, who has

stolen their hearts with His amorous acts and loving glances. Among all such

gopis, Srimati Radharani's love for Krishna is unexcelled. She has conquered

and captivated His love with every aspect of Her being.

The love of Krishna's devotees bears a host of variegated moods and flavors,

yet they all share the common characteristic of always being steeped in the

intimacy of their respective relationships with Him. To decorate and glorify

such devotees, who are already glorious by their own devotion, Krishna puts

them in the spotlight, not only for an isolated period of time, but for

thousands of years to come…up to eternity. Krishna enjoys this very much! His

loving affection for His devotees is His prominent feature above all others and

is His very personal motivation in making His appearance.

In the beginning of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Sukadeva

Goswami describes that mother earth, being overburdened by the influence of

demoniac kings, took the form of a cow and approached Lord Brahma seeking

relief. Lord Brahma, surrounded by the demigods and mother earth, proceeded to

the shore of the milk ocean and submitted prayers to Lord Visnu. Upon receiving

the appeal of Lord Brahma, the Supreme Lord agreed to make His appearance.

Again, this was an exhibition of His reciprocation with the love of His

devotees. The Lord is supreme and independent, but He is also very affectionate

and loving. Because the bond of affection that is there between Krishna and His

devotees, Krishna makes His appearance.

While Krishna is still within the womb of Devaki, the demigods assemble before

her to offer Him prayers. They glorify Him as the source of pure goodness. Thus

Krishna's advent, or Janmastami, is the coming of the quality of goodness into

this world. The demigods pray, "There are many great sages who, simply by

transcendentally meditating upon Your lotus feet and thus being absorbed in

Your thought, have easily transformed the great ocean of nescience created by

material nature into no more than the water contained in a calf's hoof print."

Krishna is glorified by the demigods as the remover of the modes of passion and

ignorance. As the source of pure goodness, Krishna dispels passion and

ignorance simply by His appearance in this world, and by performing wonderful

pastimes, He becomes the object of meditation for great saintly persons.

He appears to attract our minds and to give us the chance to experience the

manifestation of His all-pure goodness, His transcendental form, and His

wonderful pastimes. He appears to give our minds subject matter to become

absorbed in, and in that way terminate this material condition of passion and

ignorance. Hearing and discussing topics about Krishna takes one beyond birth

and death. Thus the Unborn takes birth to bring others beyond birth and death.

This is the most merciful purpose Krishna is fulfilling.

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----- Festivals over the next week ------

Aug 13 2001, Monday Appearance Srila Prabhupada (Fast)

Nandotsava

(Fasting till noon)

Aug 15 2001, Wednesday Ekadasi Annada (Break fast 05:23-08:32) (Fast)

*** NOTE: All times are for Washington D.C, USA, EST ***

For festival information for your city please go to http://www.iskcondc.org and

click on 'Calendar'

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August 15, 2001